The Secret to a Killer Midsection

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As the owner of a personal training company, I constantly hear, "I want abs," "I want a six-pack," and "How do I lose my love handles/beer gut?" Old wives' tales such as "a crunch a day keeps the flap away" and infomercials like six-minute abs are not the key to a flat stomach.

In order to achieve a killer midsection, you need to stop isolating the abdominals. This means swearing off countless sets of Crunches, Roman Chair (knee lifts), Bike Kicks and Throw Downs. Every person in the world has a six-pack, even Meatloaf the singer; it's just a question of whether it's visible. The key to a killer midsection is removing the layer of fat on top of the muscles. I challenged one male student to replace his current routine with legwork two to three times a week. After six months, he said he had never seen his abs look so good. The fact is that many athletes are wasting time trying to spot-reduce a single area and creating a muscular imbalances in their core.

So start training your large muscles, especially your legs. These hold a magical key to releasing powerful fat-burning hormones and stimulating a heart rate response far greater than from working just your abs. To lose one pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories. How many calories do you think you are burning when you perform a set of one hundred Crunches? Instead, try incorporating circuit sets with body weight Squats for twenty repetitions, Lunges for ten per leg and 30 seconds of Jumping Jacks. Or include supersets of max Pull-Ups, Push-Ups and Step-Ups for 30 seconds along with one minute of jumping rope.

Do this: Wake up twenty minutes early and immediately perform three to five sets of: one minute of Jumping Jacks, max out on Push-Ups and 30-second Plank Holds. At the end, chug a glass of water and eat. You are off to a great start!

Try implementing this advice in your daily workout routine instead of performing traditional ab exercises. You will be on the correct path for a ripped, flat midsection in no time!